Songwriter and producer LeeJae has achieved what once seemed impossible—landing at No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 with GOLDEN.

On August 14, LeeJae shared on social media, "After giving up my dream of debuting as a K-pop idol and choosing the path of a composer, my goal became writing a song that would enter the Hot 100. Achieving No. 1 among them seemed impossible." He added, "I am grateful to everyone who made this dream possible and to all the fans who supported the movie and music."

He also expressed gratitude to Korean fans: "Thank you for all the love in Korea, and for helping me achieve my dream. I promise to bring even better songs in the future."

GOLDEN reached No. 1 on the main Hot 100 chart on August 12 (KST), dethroning U.S. singer-songwriter Alex Warren's Ordinary, which had dominated since June. This marks the ninth K-pop-related song to top the chart, following six BTS hits as well as Jimin's solo Like Crazy and Jungkook's solo Seven.

The track is performed by the virtual girl group HUNTRIX from Netflix's K-pop Demon Hunters, with production contributions from Teddy and 24 of The Black Label. LeeJae, Audrey Nuna, and Ray AMI provided the vocals.

LeeJae, a former SM Entertainment trainee, had prepared for a K-pop debut in both Korea and the U.S. but did not debut. He later shifted to songwriting, contributing to hits such as Red Velvet's Psycho and aespa's Armageddon.